Fashion Geometry

What a feeling to be included in Liga's Etsy treasury. She calls it "Fashion Geometry." It's my abstract art quilt!

Go visit. Also stop by FiligreeCreations for unique lamps and lampshades. Beautiful.

{echo} week 19 - blur

When life becomes a blur....just copy and paste. Or add a filter and grunge. Then join in the challenge presented by Susan and Chrysti's {echo} week 19....it's all about blur. Autumn and I paired up several weeks ago and joined in the fun. My oh My....we are right on top of this bi-weekly prompt.

Here's my blur.....

Serendipitously, I was snapping pictures of anything...or nothing...last week and failed to delete this one from my pictures. I decided since it was not worth saving, then it was not worth ruining....so I sat about trying different elements in photoshop to blur this one up to meet the challenge.

And here is Autumn's interpretation. I'm loving it!



Autumn will have to tell you how she manipulated her picture to perfection!

A Dollop of Daisy

Original
Altered

Come Sit On My Porch.....

With my new best friend....Sparks Fly!



I found a new photoshop filter today - quite by accident - lightning effects!

Improv(E) my quilter's butt: the saga continues!

My week started out like this:

Saturday - bike 7 miles

Sunday - walk 3 miles

Monday - walk and bike 3.1 and 4 miles

Tuesday - walk 3 miles

Wednesday - didn't walk or bike...but did have a wonderful car trip to Dallas with a friend....the trip also included Thursday. Back late last night.

Friday - I know late arrivals are no excuse for me to still be in my pj's....butt!
I've promised myself to get out NOW!

But hey....20.1 total miles is not a bad deal for this ole gal! The butt may not be as wide, but the brain is more narrow..I just realized that the mileage log begins on Sunday....ends Saturday. I'll try really hard to get with the tracking program!

The long way home.....

On my return from Kansas City a few weeks ago I thought this open field just planted with soybeans with the trees on the horizon was interesting???? Was I bored? Yes...and almost home. This was South Arkansas, but North Louisiana looks just about the same. And, I was driving alone, so had to wait til I was in a less populated area so I wouldn't do harm to flora or fauna while I snapped a picture.

Original is now cropped and altered.
Then altered again.


I'll be out of pocket for the next couple of days but will be wishing I was here!

Playing in Photoshop

Isn't she the sleeping beauty. Abbi, the niece of the niece of the niece. Boy does that age my sister who is the great-grandmother of this little doll! She must be ancient...compared to me (tongue in cheek.)



I took liberties with Abbi's picture today and used the colored pencil filter. I think she is still the sleeping beauty.

Quilter's Butt and an Improv Challenge

Yes I can.....Improv(E) my quilter butt! I'm taking the challenge! Yes I can.....get my quilter butt out of the chair! Here's how to join the fun. First, go to this government site to join and track your exercise. It's a virtual transcontinental trip across the United States.

Leave it to Jacquie and Katie to put another spin on that bicycle wheel to challenge us to do more! For every mile, I get WHAT!!

Yes....in addition to shrinking the size of the butt, there's more. For every mile I log in, I get to give myself a piece of fabric to sew together in any improvisational way. Let's see hummmmmm....I can make a shower curtain or a purse. How about a potholder or maybe even a quilt.

I'm out of here.

Not an Advertisement...

I don't like to do a lot of advertising on my fun blog, but could not resist shouting out about the Pepsi Refresh Project. Pepsi is giving all of us a chance to submit ideas for projects in several different categories. Categories such as education, arts and culture, health, neighborhood, and more. Then, we get a chance to vote - up to 10 votes each day - for projects we would like to see get the grant money. Lots of money - $l.3 million....and they are doing this every month. July is almost over, but there is still time to view the site, sign up and vote...vote....vote.

Someone will win this money. It may go to projects that are dear to your heart.

Seeker Springs, a nonprofit community center in our little neighborhood, was among the top ten to win $50,000 in July. What a boost to help area children. And all we had to do was vote. And we can do it again in August. Put Pepsi Refresh Projects in your favorites bar so you won't forget.

Sunday Love

He's still asleep.....
He's awake now.....
This is the view of our bedroom door from the patio. I can also see the door from my sewing room so if I happen to glance out and see the shade pulled, I know he is awake!


He's waterproof (not).....

Love is a Sunday morning.....Marty


PS - we haven't needed the chiminea for a few months now but it is nice to fire it up and sit on the patio in cooler weather.

Flamingo Note Card

My latest note card - "You Were Saying"
Blank inside 5 1/2" x 4 1/4", envelope included. $2.50

How to make a quilt!!

I've seen these wonderful tutorials that bloggers put together and decided I wanted to do that too. First, I decided on a relatively simple design, sketched out my general quilt design, then struggled, really struggled to make my templates for this simple (?) design. Did I need a 30 or 45 degree triangle? And what's that other thing called? I'm making notes all this time so I can prepare an easy-to-follow tutorial!

Here are the templates needed. I often use a heavy weight cardboard rather than go to the expense of having an acrylic template cut.

Now that decision making process has passed, I made a prototype to be sure it all fit together as the math genius planned. There was just a 1/4" hanging off the odd shaped background fabric. Okay....so I'll just continue on and wing it from here.



I continue taking pictures of my work-in-progress for this anticipated tutorial



And here it is: All the piecing done....back selected....layered....free-motion quilted....hanging sleeve attached.....binding sewn on




Now, all the work is done and I start writing the tutorial how-to. Step 1 went okay, even step 2....but then I got to step 3. How do you tell another how to "just wing it"? This tute might be hard to sell...do you think?

So, that's where I've been for the past several days. The result, one quilt finished. Now that's a good thing.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.....

Click to see all of me

Lots to do today....first to exercise, then (hopefully) finish the pruning in the front yard. Back yard in another day (or two)!

I'm thinking positive.....it will be a fun day today.

I might just be a notecard!

From inspiring picture....

An art quilt to hang on the wall or use as a table topper....inspired by a picture I found in a Southern Living magazine. I thought the blended shades of blue and green were interesting. A different twist using fabric instead of oil paint, but.....





I was pleased with the outcome!

A face only a mother could love!

I've been watching mother cardinal and knew it was just about time for the babes to fly! Kitty saw this one first and a ruckus mama made! You can imagine. But baby sat quietly through it all while I got these great shots. Isn't he the photogenic one!


Getting cuter with every shot.....No tail feathers to speak of (yet), but the eyes make up for that! I don't know if they are about to pop because of me or because mama bird is screaming so loudly! The racket was enough to scare any child.


Remember the other day I told you not to delete those pictures too quickly. To delete or crop? Now that's the question. Here's the original....but peeking way back in the corner is my little rusting bird cage. I took it from inside the house to outside into the garden a number of years ago and it now holds an English ivy that withstands the winter cold and the summer heat.



I decided it was worth a crop and save.....

{echo} week 18 - stripes

Yikes - stripes. I've been re-thinking stripes since Susan and Chrysti decided this was the bi-weekly prompt. I finally decided to love the stripes in this concrete garden cart!


And I think Autumn had the same dilemma that I did - so many choices narrowed down to one.....I gotta give it to the girl. Her spools of thread are stripes a plenty! I need all these beauties in my sewing room. Hand them over Autumn!

Off the Design Wall -

I completed Dry Martini a while back but I had people over the other day and like to make sure the wall is hidden with my projects - so I enjoy pulling this one out. I like the free spirit of this little wall hanging or table topper size quilt! I straight-line quilted then went back and free-motion stitched the orange flowers in the some of the blocks.





Shevvy asked in yesterday's comments what was peaking from behind those little baby doll quilts. Thanks for asking Shevvy....this prompted me to do a little wall board clearing!!

It's Friday....love the moment you are in and look forward to a delightful weekend!

Baby or Doll Quilts?

Baby Doll Quilts......in the making. Still need to stitch the binding down on these two. That's busy work to do when there is a good movie on TV.

Don't look beyond the little quilt.....that's just other projects pinned to my design board!

and here is the back of it.


This one actually started out being the back of the first quilt pictured.....but I decided it was a quilt in its own right! Added straight line quilting and voila! Another little quilt!

Be Still.....Life

The Heat of the South.....

.....must be going to my head.

I may be delirious from the heat, but I know a vacation site when I see one. What a beauty this city/country inn is! It's in Sweden, but what? any of these beds would be comfortable tonight! I guess it's all the white. So clean, so cool.